Horse Abuse

It upsets me very much seeing the horses whipped so viciously at the races. This past Belmont race, the third lap of the “Triple Crown”, is a perfect example. The horses were whipped coming down the stretch, for what? Money and fame. We know some of these horses were not fresh and were tired. It is common knowledge that there is not enough time for the horses to rest between the Preakness and the grueling 1 & 1/2 mile Belmont, and by pushing them to run even harder and longer is just cruel and inhumane. As it turned out California Chrome was injured at the starting gate and yet he was still whipped. Nobody but the jockey knew, and he still used the whip viciously. I think it is shameful and incomprehensible that this should be allowed. I have written before about abuse to animals and how we should support the ASPCA, but nothing to date has been done about the whipping of horses. Even the carriage horses situation has been put on the back burner, by the new mayor of NYC. Originally he said the carriage horses would be eliminated as his first order of business. He caved to pressure. Why PETA has not been able to curtail the blatant cruelty to horses on the race track is a mystery. The only explanation, once again, is economics and political pressure. This blatant use of the whip on a horse is such a poor example for our children to see. Instead, we should be teaching our children to treat all animals with love, kindness and respect. Whips should be banned, period.